the mariner 75 has allegedly only ran 20 hours from new so I will hopefully get a look at that after christmas. Still think might be too much but it is within budget just about![/QUOTE]

Thread update finally went for this engine and apart from it dropping the stator the first time I used it it seems fantastic. Had to move the console forward to counteract chine walking but now seems OK. Cruises happily at about 38mph and tops out at just shy of 42mph but bit nervous to hold at that speed for too long. Rev counter not working right as well so dont want to ver rev it.